This number is saddening: just 2.2 percent of the venture capital granted in the US in 2018 went to women founders, the proportion was just as low in the previous year. In doing so, companies that were started by founders generate on average twice the profits. This is what a study by the Boston Consulting Group from last year showed.
There is a slight improvement over the years
But the basic problem remains: venture capital remains dominated by white men. Also on the donor side – three quarters of the (US) VCs do not have a wife in the partner circle. This is important because it often appears to be an invisible wall between male VCs and founders.
That’s not true? An example: The US founder Emily Weiss is in 2014 in their talks with male VCs consistently deafened. Only when she gets in touch with a female VC, it progresses. Today Weiss’ company Glossier is worth more than a billion dollars. Anyone who thinks that this is an isolated case or there are no similar stories in Germany is fooling themselves.
To improve the situation, nearly 1,000 female VCs have now joined forces in a network
The Global Women in VC Directory includes women who make investment decisions with institutional investors, corporations or family offices. The investors come from 600 VCs from 29 countries worldwide, and German sponsors are also members. These numbers alone give reason for hope.
The initiative was launched by Sutian Dong, a partner in the Female Founders Fund, and Jessica Peltz-Zatulove, a partner at MDC Ventures. So far, the community is password protected and only accessible to women from the VC scene. Anyone who would like to become a member can apply via the website.
Researches and collaboration
In addition to networking and collaboration, Dong and Peltz-Zatulove want to conduct research with the Women in VC Directory. Some statistics have now been published. For example, in which sectors the directory members invest – especially in enterprise, healthcare, consumer and fintech, each with about 20 percent. There are also surveys on the phases in which the participating women invest: According to this, their investments focus primarily on seed (75 percent) and series A rounds (70 percent). Unfortunately, these figures are also in line with the observation that women-owned companies often find it more difficult to find follow-up financing.
Also published on Medium.